March of the Black Queen
by PeterSeru
Summary: It was all for the sake of his lady love. And it was all for Naught. SI
1. Chapter 1

Real Waifus Bang You!

Xytegenia Mod!

Select your Waifu!

Fucking what? No! My dream, my rules

The pop up screen is floating behind me when I turn around and try to glide away from the madness into the Ethereal Void.

God. Fucking. Just relax Seru, you have blood pressure to consider. Rip ROBs head off later. I exhale, poke Yang because I don't care, and wait. "You have selected Yang Xiao Long! Confirm Choice and move to Character Creation?" Yes, let's move this along. "All Huntresses have an irresistible urge to coddle and smother you. The stronger the Huntress, the more they feel you are a helpless little civilian who needs to be protected, and owes them a debt of favour for their assistance! Unfortunately, this comes with a downside, dear Huntsman. They all expect that you belong to them. Pay undue affection to another woman after the first… See how it goes."

I don't even bother opening my eyes. Fuck this. I take a few calming breaths. And then a few dozen more. A straw is slipped into my mouth, and the pacifying chill of icy green tea slips into my mouth as I suck reflexively. "You know why I can't let you go." I can still hear the monitor. And the constant single tone. "You thought you could endure. You did valiantly. Got everything in order. They want for nothing. The wound of your absence is made softer by the death poem, and the look of relief in your features. You are free. Please, let me help you. You have nothing more to do there. You have a purpose, and a duty here."

"Do not speak to me of Duty, or of Service! You, who has no concept akin to it! Never have you sacrificed for another!" I whirled on the speaker, and leveled enraged gaze. He spoke of purpose!? "My purpose was the defense of Kin, and caring of Hearth! Faith, Family, Farm, all taken from me!?" I roared, and the formless figure hugged me, holding me around shoulders and chest as I let out all the despair and pain. "All my sacrifice, every moment of restraint, every instance of repressed desire, all of it, every fucking Planck time…."

"I should have been Forthright with you. The wound was… not supposed to happen." The figure somehow brought the straw to my lips again, and I was drinking, feeling the chill of calm in my blood again. "This is the distilled essence of peace, enlightenment, and detachment. Drink, my lost soul." More and more flooded me, and I found my eyes closing. "I'll take care of things. I'm sorry for your loss." The peace of death passing over me. "Malachite lays dead, Letstone has saved Avacyn, and Nanashi has saved Lodis. None of this will follow you. Stop holding back, listen to… La Palabras de Amor." The voice had been free of gender, but the singing was feminine. "I reign with my left hand, I rule with my right, I'm Lord of all Darkness, I'm Queen of the Night…" the figure was cradling me as the cold fluid moved through me. I… I tried to fight it. I didn't want to pass on. "I've got the power…." I was fading fast.

…

…

"My life is in your hands, I'll fo and I'll fie, I'll be what you make me, I'll do what you like… I'll be a bad boy, I'll be your bad boy… I'll do the March of the Black Queen…" humming to myself, I let hot water flow over me, the shower warming bones and relaxing muscle. I exhaled, and let the unknotting sound of muscles popping and bones creaking soothe wounded ego, and injured pride. I had been accepted into Beacon. But it had been 'in spite' of combat ability, not because of it.

"It's a good thing we teach you to fight. You lack everything but killing instinct, and technique. And that's the one thing we try to restrain. Your academics got you in, and your conditioning is excellent, though your Aura is worryingly low. Remedial combat training, and we will revisit this at the end of the semester." Glynda Goodwitch had given me an appraising eye when she said that. "You purposely restrained from relying on your semblance, and that played into your favour. I want to see you maintain this habit. That ability is better hidden from any but the Grimm. If you did not overwhelmingly excel in every other area, your dismal Aura level would see us reject you for your own safety. Your blows fall as fresh snow, and your shield is as paper."

God forbid the Schnee bastard be given the chance to cut loose. Can't offend the cunts who own far too much for their own good. Hot water rapidly chilled as I felt the small glyph form in my hand. Glyph magic like the Schnee's, it normally needed dust. But I had mastered something else. I had sacrificed a chunk of my aura, twisting and corrupting my semblance with the help of that Witch, but I had power beyond anything they could understand.

All for the price of giving half my living aura to a Witch, God forbid she hear me call her that. I would have given more. I drank her blood when it was proffered, and let her violate my body by welcoming her into my bed. White hair corrupted to bloody red, and icy blue eyes to venomous green. All things that separated me from Jacques Schnee, the pretender who neglected my mother, and his bastard progeny. Not that my actual 'father' was much better. He obtained a blood sample from Bianca Schnee when he presided over Winter's birth, and…

I did not come into this world through the waters of the womb. I awoke on an operating table, lab notes strewn around, and Doctor Merlot bleeding out, smiling as a Beowulf tried to devour me. I thrust my hand into it's chest, and drew the beast into me. It had vanished into motes of bloody crimson light, but not before Merlot died by an Arc's longsword. I was taken in by Aramis Arc as his youngest, a full decade and a half younger than any of my 'sisters', but the heir to his techniques, his methods, and his morals. Lord-Father Arc is a Paragon, and should I carry myself with one tenth his nobility, mankind will be the better for it.

I wear Peter Emile as my moniker to protect us both from questions. Forged transcripts, bought and paid for, with steady side work thanks to less reputable connections, my Lord-Father telling me that nobility did not spring solely from law. Sometimes, a good man can do better in a den of filth by setting fine and honourable example. I find myself doing this easily enough as one of Junior's enforcers. A bit of work here, an application of the healing magic of my semblance there, and all is well. I walk out of the shower to find, cruelly, a woman in my bed who is not there to relieve my frustrations. The poor thing is bleeding all over my nice clean sheets, eliciting a sigh, and my mumbling the incantation under breath, before I watch her wounds close. The look of apathy on my face tells her to scatter, but she persists.

"Roman said you had something like this. A power to heal at range, and a brilliant light show to accompany. I would like to hire you on retainer." I kept the apathetic mask on my face as I gestured for her to stand, changing my bedding as she spoke. "One thousand lien, and you make yourself available to my organization and I for healing at all times. Monthly. I gain priority over anything other than your hunter missions, you cut classes for me if need be."

"By what measure would I be forced to give priority. Your language suggests more, Maiden, than just my healing talents. I do not sell my sword arm unknowingly." She was smirking at me. Her eyes were a piercing gold, and I felt… uneasy. This was not a woman to be trifled with. Her hands reached my wrist, and pulled it to be around her waist as she shifted to be flush against me, raven dark hair intermixing with my crimson as she rested her chin on my shoulder, dipping me back, and asserting dominance despite her shorter height.

"... Mmm… fifteen hundred lien, and your seed and muscle belong to me alongside your soul, Arc." She had beautiful eyes, and the structure of her face was not unpleasing to me. "I know all about how you Arcs think about yourselves. Daddy would have hidden it from Mommy, and his baby girls, not truly as twisted as the Grandfather, but he taught you, and what he didn't teach, those books on Knighthood did. I know what you believe of Faunus, and what you believe of yourself. Never mind what I can make you think of me."

Her hands gripping my clothing as she pushed me back, balled fists holding cloth above my shoulders, she rode my falling body into the bed, straddling my waist. "Salem took an interest in you, Arc. Consider this as much from her as from me." Her lips met my cheek, and then my shoulder, drawing just a hint of blood "Swear yourself to me, Arc. I will make you worthy of your name." The look of concern in my eyes seemed to embolden her. "Your life set in my hands, you'll fo and you'll fie, you'll be what I make you, you'll do what I like, you'll be a bad boy, you'll be my bad boy…" Her kiss was scalding hot. "You'll do the March of the Black Queen…"

I kissed back for a few scant seconds, wanting that intense fire. I grasped for it vainly, before I pulled away. "Stop. I can not in good faith enter such a contract. My loyalty is owed to my Kin, and my fellow Hunters. To say nothing of the people of the Four Kingdoms. I can not sell myself to you without the consent of my Father, my Team, and my Headmaster." She was bent over me, Raven hair falling to curtain us. Her golden eyes bore into my own, before she hovered there, waiting to see me flinch. After almost a minute, she sighed, grabbing my wrist, and twisting it just so to leave me remembering the encounter in my bones. Onto my exposed ring finger of my left hand, she slipped a black metal ring, before closing it in her fist.

"If you will not enter into a binding pact with me, I will mark you none the less, Arc. You will be mine one day." I did not scream as she enwreathed my hand in hellfire born from some black womb, but instead grit my teeth, and endured. Flesh, muscle, bone, and black metal seemingly fused, before she let go of my hand, and I was left panting, and suppressing tears of pain. "The ring is not to be trifled with, Arc. Heal it, if you so desire, but make no attempt to remove it if you value your hand. Know the name of your mistress, Cinder Fall." She reached down, grasping my jaw in her hand, before ravaging my mouth with another kiss. "And doubt not that I love you." She stood from me, and walked out, idly tossing a fistful of Lien cards at me as if I was some common whore.

I could rail at this injustice, attempt to strike back at her, or… I could accept that this was part of my life now. It spoke volumes of my mental health that I merely whispered the benediction to my foreign God's and watched the hand heal. My loyalty was tested sorely, by Cinder. I had lied, but I would not let it weigh on me. I had the one I loved, once I found a way to be with her, I would leave all of this emotional pain and muck behind. Cinder was correct, in small ways. I would fo and fie. But I was not marching to her tune. The Witch had twisted me, and taken half my light. But it had been only at another's command. Green hair flashed before my eyes, as I remembered phantom kisses, my beloved's touch on mine. I but had to accomplish my tasks, and find a vessel to bring her back to me.

My hand was free of scars or wounds, but I could see that the ring was fused into my finger. I flexed it without issue, but the presence would likely annoy. Dressing in loose breeches and long sleeved shirt, decent boots over soft calf length stocking, I pulled on leather gloves to mask the damage done to my hands. I would need to modernize my wardrobe, but I had a thousand lien to make disappear. The Malachite twins would be ecstatic with the eight hundred I gave them for a budget. Two hundred I slipped into my wallet to safely purchase more functional clothing in Atlas style, though my own personal crimson and blacks in colour. I will be damned if I do not have something functional and comfortable for sleeping in.

I heard the sound of gunfire, grabbed my sword, and leapt clear of the stairwell, kicking off the wall, rolling into the Balcony overlooking the club. Junior's enforcers fighting… Shit. Yang Xiao Long. One of the Fate-Kissed Huntresses the Witch warned me of. Cinder was one as well, but I had not wanted to even think of such around her. I took a running start, leapt, one foot found the rail as I flipped my sword in mid air, grabbing it by the blade, and twisting my body.

Yang Xiao Long reached the Apex of her jump, and took the crossguard of my great sword into her sternum as I intercepted her. I let go of the blade, slapping it to land flat against the tile as I rode Miss Xiao Long, grabbing at her hands, and locking my knees on her waist, into the dance floor. We both made an awkward squeaking sound as we slid across it, but there was no explosion, no damage. Nothing a mop would not handle. "Enough! Whatever grievance you have with my employer, it ends here. Or I will break you over my knee!" Crimson eyes burrowed into mine, and she had a cocksure grin on her features.

"Junior didn't tell me he had a hottie on staff. And here I thought I was going to need to whip his men and his bitches. But you… You are so outclassed that I am going to enjoy breaking you in. By the end of this, you will call me Sir." She was licking her lips, and brute forced her way to her feet as I rolled backwards, bleeding any momentum clean and with two hand signals, I was catching one of the Enforcers cleavers before they were running to get my great sword. I sank into a crouch, blade held over my body in a defensive stance. I knew taking on anyone who was kissed by fate was asking for trouble, but I had no choice. This was Sacred Ground to me, my employers holdings. These men were fed and watered from proceeds this club earned.

I would not let her destroy it. "This need not end in bloodshed, Huntress! Stand down, and I will see about meeting your demands." I gathered Aura into my hand, forming the Glyph with breathed words and will. Pale blue and white light formed, this art the closest in appearance though a far cry from the true Schnee Glyphs in effect. She looked torn, staring at me, before she set her stance. "Yang! This is idiotic, do not make me file charges against you. This is a legitimate business, and I am a Knight of Known Lineage. No matter how questionable the pedigree of the owner, my word backing his will see you imprisoned. Your career, dashed on the rocks of cruel fate! For what? This is the better path."

"Your employer knows something about my Mother!" Her face was tense. Hell, her whole body was tense. No, this would devolve if no one told her what she wanted. I could bluff her, but that would be ill advised. Better to give her the scraps I do know, and end this without further conflict. "I'll walk away if I get some information on her, as well as…" She was looking at me appraisingly, halfway between sizing me up as an opponent, and the look of a hungry panther at wounded prey. "You taking me drinking after this. You are so tightly wound that if I don't loosen those springs and clear those pipes, the pressure will kill you, and then the world will be deprived those wonderful green eyed babies. Granted they will be strawberry blonde, but that is life."

"I fail to see what bearing any hypothetical children between myself and Glynda Goodwitch will have on this, but I will accept those terms. I happen to have heard a handful of rumours on Raven Branwen. What is your preferred Alcohol?" I exhaled a relaxed breath. Her proposal, even if she attempted unwelcome sexual acts, was a far cry less dangerous than an all out war in Junior's club. I twisted the spell, crushing the glyph in hand, and bolstered my own valour. I would need it to make it through the night. I turned towards the bar, and made it two steps, reaching to withdraw some of the Lien I had been so coarsely handed by Cinder when I felt a hand on the back of my neck, and one on my wrist, before my temple was held into the bar. She had an excellent hold, and I did not bother trying to break out of it.

"Tell me what I want to hear, then we can bother with the sweet talking." She was close, far, far closer than I wanted her, and there was so much heat. I felt my blood boil as she pressed in, deeper, harder against me. Her uncomfortably warm breath on my ear as she spoke, followed by her hair touching my everywhere as she leaned in, before she was kissing my jawline, feather light things that disturbed my ease, even though I was filled with ensorcelled valour.

"Raven Branwen, suspected leader of the Tigers of Burnham, a Mistrali Bandit faction based in the Valerian Isle, currently believed to be seeking the Relics of Xenobia. She has found the Armband of Floran, but has yet to locate the King's Grail, or the Holy Sword Brynhildr, nor the Zodiac Stones and their companion, the Fireseal. Last known location was the ruins of Fortress Phidoch, the last remaining structure in Valeria after the Grimm invasion five hundred years ago. She engaged three full Haven teams, trounced them, and sent them back to Leonheart with shattered limbs and ribs." I knew this much because I sought all those myself. My love was separated from me by millennia. I had but to gather those relics, and open the Chaos Gate with the fitting sacrifice… and I would drag time back before the Grimm began.

Even though the Arcs were descended from Lodis, and my love had feared them… I would cross that gap in due time. The pressure lightened, and I pulled myself to standing before I had a young blonde woman straddling me on the bar. I grabbed behind the counter top to balance myself, and she smirked hungrily at the unease crossing my expression. "Oh, fear not my noble knight, I am not going to do anything untowards to your patrons precious club. The only thing on my mind right now is that bottle of Mistrali Ouzo behind you, and, of course… Me-n-u." She walked her fingers up my chest as if they were a spider, grabbed my hair by the tie of it's ponytail, and yanked me into a hungry kiss. It was only a young woman in Lolita Gothic garb that saved my mouth from any more abuse.

"Yang? What are you doing here?" Ruby Rose, another Fate-Kissed. Damnit all. Yang held a finger over my mouth as she straightened, and pressed me into the bar. "Is this a new boyfriend? Mom got annoyed that the last one skittered away when uncle Qrow tossed him through a tree during training. He had the manners but no courage." Yang was looking pensive for a few seconds longer than I liked.

No. Nonono… No! Do not fucking think it! "... You know what Ruby, you caught me." She grabbed me by the collar, hauling me to my feet, before taking another hot, lustful kiss. "Little sis, this is my new boyfriend…" She had fingertips pushing just a little painfully into my kidney.

"Peter Emile, son of Aramis Arc, charmed, I'm sure, Miss Rose." She was clinging to me. She had not even bothered with the courtesy to cross the points between herself and I in a perceived manner, simply blurring before there was a lamprey attached to my side. I was six foot four inches, and built at a firm two thirty five. I was teetering onto the bar, with this new devil crawling up my arm to hug me like a spider monkey.

I closed my eyes, restrained a sigh of frustration, and let her cling to my back as she found purchase there. "Yang! He smells like strawberries and cream! My eyes don't see any Grimm corruption, though there is a significant wound to his soul, and he is only mildly annoyed that you are pressuring him into this!" Yang was blushing, whilst I exhaled again, this one edging into a sigh. "I know your last boyfriend was almost angry when you sprung the family on him." Interesting. Her ability only reads falsehood and feeling, but not about WHAT. I could work with this. She seemed to like my shampoo at least. Now she was burying her face into my neck. "Honey and Vanilla body wash. Hey, he uses Mom's brand!" God save me from inquisitive women.

Yang had a… fondly exasperated expression on her face. One of Junior's men had my sword, and handed it off, collecting his cleaver and backing off whilst Junior put a brave face on in the exposure to my own mouthed 'kill me!'. Both Malachite sisters were hiding their amusement. "Peter. Shoo, just get them out of my club. Take the week off. Miltia has your bug out bag." I caught it deftly, and was dragged out of the bar by Yang and her sister. Damn you Junior! He even had the 'charity' of including two bottles of Ouzo to lubricate things. Alongside condoms, actual lube, and massage oil. This was Melanie's handiwork, the threat that she would get me laid before Beacon coming true at last. May all three rot in the Abyss! Cursed traitors all!


	2. Chapter 2

"So. What, or who, is Lodis. I've heard you swear by it once or twice in exasperation, and you seem to care about it." We were in the girl's hotel room. They were in the city, celebrating Yang's graduation from Signal. I was monitoring them, cooking seafood to go with the Mistrali Ouzo, and making sure neither of them overdid it. Ruby had never drank before, but had plead interest. I was drinking them both shot for shot, and keeping a damn close eye on the girl. She was an innocent thing, blessed with being able to see both falsehood and the predations of the Grimm. She could not see the twisting of that Witch on my soul, which meant none of them understood how much danger I embodied. Granted, I was also timing things to get them both sufficiently intoxicated that I could use one of my air spells without them being the wiser. Balmy Breeze, mass target sleep effect, summoning the Zephyros winds of Menagerie and Vacuo, the warm air that bring ease and fatigue at it's passing. But they wished to know the story of Lodis. Beloved Lodis… the man who sacrificed for us in the Ogre Battle. I paused, and looked at the cooking calimari.

"What do you know of Mistral's further past?" I asked softly, as I continued working on the food. Ruby was happily nibbling at pita and subtle garlic hummus, and dutifully drinking water at my command, an equal amount for each measure of alcohol I poured and drank alongside her. Though the tradition was of Jipang, I invoked the Watchman's Wariness, that none poured their own drinks that night. I poured for the girls, the girls poured for me. Despite drinking a shot for each they drank, I had two advantages. I was eating appropriately for a man my size, and I was also routinely purging the poison from my system with whispered incantations when I excused myself to use the lavatory. I made sure both girls were drinking water, even though Yang demanded I kiss it to her, the insufferable girl pouting cutely at me to force my agreeance, and offering debauchery I did not care for with a woman so young as my reward.

I freely acknowledge we are of equal age, but I loved a woman easily twice mine. I could possibly remedy my lack of attraction with Fire, Dark, or perhaps Necromantic magics, but I would prefer to not sully my semblance so swiftly. "Piteously little, lover mine. My own blood and I know so little." Her eyes were downcast. Mood swings at a quarter of the bottle in her and Ruby, whilst the reaper was hugging into my shoulder, and sniffing the calimari experimentally, not exposed to this type of seafood. A sprig of lemon, and I transferred squid to plate before carrying all three whilst hugging crimson reaper, and granting blonde pugilist a chaste kiss. She moaned softly at it, licking at my lips but receding when I popped in a piece of well made calimari, her moan mirroring Ruby's own.

I was not one to indulge in pride, but to see food made bring two Huntresses in training to moans of pleasure? I smirked just so. "Worth the wait?" Her happy sigh told me I had won something. And then Ruby was clinging to my chest.

"Yang, Yang we need to marry him now! He cooks, he is so warm, and he cares! About us both! Peter, marry me! And Yang! And cook for us every day! And kiss and hug us both and let me make you a weapon, and spar with Mom and… Yang he could marry Mom too and we can all keep him all to ourselves!" I cocked an eye, amusement and mild concern for Ruby surging through me as she clumsily tried to pull my shirt off. Yang leaned in, pulling my hands above my head, letting Ruby divest me of my shirt, before she was nuzzling into defined muscle. "Mmm… You feel like Dad. You have an inner light, that shines like the Sun on a cloudy day. All clouds burn away, all mist is driven before you."

"That light, is Lodis. I could tell a long and sad story about the death of Man and their rebirth by the Prophet Lodis, but to me, all that Lodis is? Is the Light inside my breast. When I am sad. When I am in pain. When I am afraid… I reach for that Light. Lodis lives in me." Ruby and Yang both looked at me with a strange pensivity.

"... Lodis is your Aura."

"... In essence, Ruby, yes. It is more than that, but the Sun that burns within my breast is Lodis and Aura both." In part, it was my Semblance, and it is what caused a small rift between Father and I. The Arcs were once Lodissian, yes, but they had been Heretics, lovers of the Moon, and the Angel Avacyn. I was truly dedicated to the Sun. I reached for a piece of calimari, only to have Yang flop on to me, nipping it out of my hands, sucking my fingers into her mouth, and clean, before Ruby spread a small dollop of hummus onto a piece of pita, and slipped it into my mouth. I was… Warm. I was content.

And then Yang was pulling me back, settling me into her lap, before I realized she was subtly sitting on my left arm, and Ruby was on my right, we were in one of the rather sizable beds… And Ruby was shifting the calimari over, before she began feeding it to me slowly, making sure to encourage me to suck her fingers clean. I… felt happy. This level of intent from a woman? I was the provider of love with Her Majesty, this was in a small way overwhelming. And then Yang brought a piece to my mouth in a kiss, then Ruby, then Yang again, and it continued. The Ouzo was forgotten, as this continued for a few minutes… once we were out of the squid, I shifted to stand only for Yang to smile, and lean into Ruby, whispering something. "Peter? Stay still you brilliant hunk." Yang's words.

The Ouzo was cold in the valley between my pectorals, poured by Yang, slurped, licked, and sucked up by Ruby, her kisses moving all over my body. The feeling of her slip of a tongue on my body elicited shivers and shudders alongside the cold alcohol. Ruby smirked cutely at me, kissing me to finish off her little display, before she poured and measure, and it was Yang, who was languidly sucking on points of my chest, determined to hear me moan. It was only when I finally broke, and did so, that she kissed me, thrusting her tongue in, and exploring the cavern of my mouth with a pleased sigh. She held the bottle for Ruby, who took a drink without handily touching it, following my rule to the letter, before Ruby was kissing me, transferring the alcohol to my mouth, and enjoying a kiss while I tried to swallow and not get too much saliva in with it. I failed, Ruby and Yang taking turns to make sure I was getting just as drunk as they, and feeling the warmth of their desire alongside. It was when I realized I was contemplating following through on the temptation offered before me, my apathy towards young women overwhelmed by just how damn intent they were on fucking me tonight, that I decided it was time. I kissed Yang back, before I quickly whispered. "Hushing wind, lure you my foe's into Mind's abyss!" The two of them blinked, before the warm breeze set them both to dreaming. Careful not to jostle them, I tucked them into their beds, setting them in the three quarter prone for safeties sake, and moved to my next step. A hand on both girl's shoulders, I exhaled. "Gone the mud of misfortune, cleansed the blood of honest soul!" All the poison built up was now cleansed. I repeated the spell one last time on myself, breaking up the built vasopressin, and cleansing it from my own liver, before I tucked both girls in, set bowls beside them, made sure to place Ruby's mask over her eyes, and placed bottles of ice on the night stands. It would melt, and still be cold in the morning.

Once they were both cared for, I turned, hunting down my shirt, to find myself face to face with the Witch. Immediately, my teeth grit, but I refrained from speaking, knowing the shouts would wake the girls. She gave a cocky smile, and beckoned me to the balcony with a single finger. I slipped outside, inhaling pre-dawn air with a placid, schooled expression. Whilst I was grateful to the Witch, she infuriated me. Scandalously short dress in a single piece, and the ridiculously oversized hat both in magenta to conflict with strawberry blonde hair and tawny eyes. Deneb Rove. I grit my teeth as two pumpkins sprouted for us to sit on, and she proffered the typical. I never cared for pumpkin pie. A dainty dessert fork thrust into my hand, and she finally spoke. Breasts that made Yang look inadequate heaved as she inhaled. "Cut the knightly bullshit, Peter. Our deal had strict terms. You would spread wild oats. I want magic back in the world, and your dick is how I can get it."

I refrained from hurling the pie at her. It was very good, magnificent even, I just hated pumpkin pie. I swallowed, taking my time with the Witch. I could see her twitch in fury at my calling her such in my head. Her voice struck a pang of longing in me. I did not know why, but it seemed… Longer familiar than just our bargain struck and pact sealed. "Mistress Rove, our deal was that I would sleep with the women of my choosing. I do not choose young women who are ensnared by kind words and warm smiles. They are huntress trainees both. Childrearing takes time." She suppressed a scream. I could hear it in the back of her throat, before she was straddling me, setting the pie on wide rail, and tearing my pants off, slight frame hiding immense strength. Her lips on mine, and she was grabbing me by the stones, whispering into my mouth a spell of the Dark element. I felt it sink in, before my loins burned.

"My magic knows. It will act on the first woman you find acceptable, and is going to give me what I want. You will fuck her. She is going to break you in like a boot, and you will impregnate every woman who throws herself at you, or they are going to ache something fierce, Lodissian. Not even your Phoelarh can help you when my magic gets in nice and deep. Pull this bullshit again, and it will get worse. I can turn you into the nasty types of Ogre, and set you to raping your way through this. And when you turn back, it will be with the memories intact. Do not, fuck with me." I recoiled deeper into the pumpkin before she smirked. "You will get to be with Endora in the end Peter. I know it feels longer, but it will be over in a blink of the eye." Deneb finally released me, cute features scrunched in thought, before she slapped me. "And it's Wicce! Not Witch!" She vanished in a cloud of dark magic leaving me with two pieces of her fucking pie! Ugh. Waste not, want not. I choked it down, drank the last of the Ouzo, Cleansed myself once more, and collapsed onto the couch, cursing Wicce, Witches, Ogres, and Huntresses all. I needed new pants. Aagh. I reached over, grabbing my bug out bag, before sighing, pulling on a housecoat, and flopping into the welcoming embrace of gentle sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Evening sun filled the room, and I sighed awake, pleasantly warm. Only to discover the source, with a hint of annoyance. I had guests in my (lent) dominion and intruders in my (borrowed) demesne. Rightful renters they might be, but I could have slept until later in the evening, recovered from the spell slinging I had done so liberally the day before. Alas, in glow of orange and red setting sun, it was not to be. The duo were well rested, I could tell that much. Annoyed with themselves that they had passed out before claiming me, hence why Yang was straddling my lap, and Ruby was clinging to me around the shoulders on my left, keeping me pinned. "When a girl offers herself to you, you are supposed to take her!" She was frowning, but there was a touch of concern in her expression. She was faced with a man who had rejected her. "You slept on the couch, instead of with either of us. Why, are we suddenly not good enough!" Yang's voice belied hesitation, and frustration.

"The Virtuous man does not engage in lurid liaison with women intoxicated with liquors or pretty words. He waits until the bonds of matrimony, of loving relationship, and of marriage contracts signed, with all bride prices paid, able to provide for the children brought into this world by his action. The Virtuous man shows himself an example for all, even the women he loves." My quotation of one of the Arc maxims stilled Yang. I lied, but not in a way that Ruby could perceive. For the quotation of a text is a truth. Her eyes rested on me, before she clung to me around the shoulder.

"Why are you a criminal then?" She asked the pertinent question. I embodied everything a criminal should not be. But it is what would make me very successful as someone's second, because combined with a Hunter's training, and a willingness to cross the line into the dark… A Paladin of Darkness is the most terrifying thing that man or God will ever know. We call them Ogres for a reason, since at one time… They were Men. Men who sought power, and were willing to drink blood and eat flesh to do so. The discarding of vice, of idle desire, made me dangerous. And it is what made me attractive, but also unsettling to Yang Xiao Long. I did not care about her body, despite wanting her soul. She wanted my body, but did not know what to make of my Soul.

"Because I am not willing to draw on the funds of a family that I was adopted, not born into, nor will I beg from Government or School both. What I earn, I earn by my own works, or with my own paid coin, be it legal tender, labour, or otherwise. I will owe no debts. My honour would make such an owing unbearable. Service such as mine in criminal enterprises commands a high wage, higher respect, and inspires others to a dedication to better ethics, despite the… Morally dubious nature of their work. It is better to have such things organized and carried out by men who treat it as business, than rampant thugs or crazed fools." A common argument, and one I expected them to loathe.

"It's better to not have it take place at all!" Yang was holding me by the collar, knuckles pressing into the front of my collarbone. Blazing red eyes and flared aura manifestation… I had touched a nerve. Raven. She saw me as a sexual partner, but in seeing anything of Raven in me, it drew her rage to wax fiery. The woman who hurt her so? She could not tolerate the barest hint of such in her paramour. I made no expression, suppressed the light of my own soul, choosing not to argue with her at all, instead staring into her own eyes, silent in my answer to her moral judgement. She plucked me from MY natural environment, forced me into HER life, and sought to demand I betray MY honour? Ruby looked between us, and spoke.

"... Yang… How long have you two known eachother? This seems like a fairly big sticking point." Ruby's eyes belayed her sense that Yang was furious, but that I was simply irritated. Both these Huntresses were Fate-Kissed. It would be better for me to stay in their good graces, and that meant I needed to save Yang from any further prying questions from her sister. I exhaled, suppressed my annoyance towards Yang, thinking of dawnkissed meadow, noonlit forest, and eveningglow washed lakeside, as my frustrations melted away. My soul seethed quietly as peace washed over me.

"This is an argument that will flare up now and again Ruby. Both of us are set deeply in stone, and it makes for passionate diatribe back and forth. Immovable opinion against irresistible belief." I gave a warm smile, and kissed the young girl's forehead, eliciting a blush, and a sigh of frustration. I moved for the clincher. "Please, forgive us both, it is unsightly that it be shown in front of you." I adopted conciliatory tone and faint embarrassment. I was such in truth, but not for the reasons that Ruby would think. Control information, control situations. I leaned forwards, and pecked Yang on the lips, adopting kicked pup's eyes, and pout both. "Please, let's not fight in front of family?"

Ruby slapped my arm. "Liar. I'm not family yet." I greeted her with sly grin, and cocked eyebrow. She paused, and then blushed at the silent implication. "... I mean, I could be if you and Yang wanted to include me and…" I ruffled her hair, earning a hiss of annoyance, before she buried her face in my neck. "Yaaaaang! Make your boyfriend stop being… this! He is charming us both out of being angry at him for not…"

"Taking advantage of your drunken state, or the fact that you were both in a jubilant mood to crasslt sate lecherous desires I lack?" I smirked as Ruby gave an annoyed shout of frustration. Yang was giggling at this point, recovering some trace of her protective nature as the Elder sibling.

"Okay. Fine. I get it Peter, you did the right thing. Thank you for not… Being a typical man." I gave bowed head and hugged both to me. "I am just… The concept of a man who is seeking to nest… It is weird as all hell. Mom will want to talk to you. Casual sex? That's… accepted. What you are looking at, what you are after, that gets notice. That gets parents involved. Especially if you ARE an Arc. Your family is rather infamous for how nasty they are about reprisals. But the Arc sisters never mentioned you in any interviews."

I let them go, before I began answering. "I was adopted by Aramis. My first memories are of waking up on a lab table, and staring down a monster as Aramis kicked in the door and killed it. He took me in, trained me, taught me to be an Arc. He never had a son, his own died in childbirth a few months before, taking the mother with him. I was a way for him to pass on what his wife would not let him pass to his daughters." I shrugged it off, I was not going to linger on the why. Aramis raised me, I am going to do right by his teachings. Anything else was irrelevant. I blinked at the faintly piteous looks. "I am alive to tell this story. I am going to Beacon, and I am going to claim victory over innumerable hordes. There is nothing to mourn here."

Ruby frowned. "Liar. You might be able to deceive my eyes when you say that, but you are lying. We know what being with only one parent is like. Come on, up, shopping. We need to get you a side arm anyways." She was hauling me to my feet by an arm, Yang sneaking a hug before they were going for their suitcases. Rolling my eyes, I fetched clean clothing myself, strapped on receivers for my sword, a magnetic field emitted by a harness worn under my coat that allowed my sword to hang over my back. A necessity given the size of my blade. Pulling my jacket on, a leather blazer too short for my tastes, but I was a fan of greatcoats… I checked the ring Cinder had burnt onto my hand, making sure to stay non-chalant, pulled my glove back on, and pulled my hair into a loose ponytail. I looked sub-optimal, but as things went, I was only dealing with buying firearms, ammunition, and maybe some of the pale imitation of Krystallos they call Dust.

My personal theory on Dust was that whatever killed off the Dragons, the Ogres, and everything else from Xytegenia, turned the magic into this… Dust. It offended me in small ways. The more I learned of my heritage by adoption, the more I hated this world I lived in. Scrolls and Bullheads did not make up for the loss of Magic. But I would NOT stoop to breaking the vows I made to my father to live as if I was one of the Loslorien. I would not DESERVE to live in the Age of Steel, if I broke them. Both girls were dressed, and I got to take a good look at Ruby. I liked her sense of fashion, though I would prefer a more substantial skirt. Yang needed more substantial garb, but it was my father's values coming to the fore. The millenia had decayed the social mores. "Are we prepared to embark?" I received a pair of nods, Yang taking my arm and looping it around her shoulder whilst Ruby clung to the opposite.

Vale was clean, that much I could say for it. But it was a sterile clean, the sort of thing that made it so alien to my native Mistral, and more to the point, my home of Gallius. It lacked the warmth of crimson and black, the smell of spice in the air, or the drinking halls, the faithful in congregation to Phoelarh, and all those things that remained of Lodis in her once seat. After the death of his wife, and with his children all fully grown, separate as they were from him in small ways, Aramis raised me in Gallius. I implied a greater deal of time to Ruby and Yang, but it was a scant four years, for he had found me quite grown already. I have the body of a man of twenty one, though I can freely call it a manifestation of my aura, and those four years were eighteen hour days of training, spells of refreshment and healing repairing my body and mind once I had shared with Aramis the nature of my pact with Deneb to his pleasure and joy, though I did not explain what I precisely lost, just what I gained. He was back in the home he had built with his wife, taking the time to properly grieve now that I was being handled. He had fortune enough to last him quite the while, and I would draw precisely NONE of it. My father deserved the time to grieve, to finally mourn in peace for my brother and mother. Jaune and Jeanne were as my blood, even though they were dead before I ever met Aramis. "Alright, we just need to stop in for some burn dust, Yang is short from that brawl in the Club, and we can take you to the range and get a hold on what feels right for you!" Ruby clung to me like an lamprey, dragging me into the back whilst her sister spoke with the owner about specifics. From Dust to Dawn.

All of this felt pointless. I was a swordsman, and a damn good one. Once I got a chance to repair my aura, I would… I felt a burning from my left hand. What madness was this? I muttered a whispered spell of Ice, and even that only numbed the pain. I was leaning on one of the shelves as I watched my Boss walk into the store, flanked by four of my co-workers. "Ruby, I'll be right back." I was power walking, grabbing Roman by the arm, and staring the four down as I dragged him outside with a wave to Yang, blocking Roman from her sight with my body. "You know that girl from the Club last night? That's the blonde. There is another one who is just as fucking scary, and she is in the back. Both are armed with their gear. Walk away Roman, give it an hour, I'll get them clear." The boys were outside with me, Yang talking to the clerk now. "Seriously, call this my favour for that shit that went down in Vacuo, or make me do Neo-sitting duty, I don't care, but for your own safety, hold off on this Op for…"

"You know, it's bad form to mix business and pleasure Peter." Yang's voice behind me caused me to shut my eyes, and sigh. "I thought you worked for Junior! But you seem chummy with Roman Torchwick of all people!" I exploded into a spinning backfist, which Yang caught, twisting my arm and bringing me to my knees. "Oh, this is my kind of foreplay. Challenge accepted."

"RUN ROMAN!" I was keeping my gaze on the ground while I tried to push upwards. Yang sighed, shaking her head from the view I had of her hair, before she brought a knee into my stomach, eliciting a hiss from me. He was walking INTO the shop!? DAMNIT! "I will not betray my honour for you Yang. You will never have that as quickly as you had my affection. I am sorry."

"I would say I am sorry, but I really could care less. I have you, and now I get to see what you hid under that glove." She was pulling it off, and I could hear a startled breath. "What the hell is this? It… Who burned it into your skin!" I could hear Ruby shouting at the goons, and Roman sighing before glass shattering. I moved, forcing myself upward and shoulderchecking Yang in the stomach, lifting her clear off the ground before I rolled her over myself. My arm snapped from the conflict of forces and her twisting, but I suppressed the scream, holding my wrist as she rolled to recovery. I hopped so I was in the middle of the cluster of my comrades. "Peter, Mom has hundreds of thousands of Lien, and she would take care of you in a heartbeat, you can walk away from all of this."

"Give unto me your unseen shield, your skin of soot; Protect us from burning blade!" I shouted the incantation, and the crimson glyph burned in the air around me, as Pyroguard surged into existence over myself and my allies. The manifestation of fire spirits would protect us from, well, Fire. I had no idea if it would do anything more than sweet fuck all against Burn Dust, but I was going to take this chance. "I told you Yang, my honour will never let me do that. May my call become the light of Purest Heaven; Salvation Ours!" The glyph was white-blue, the colour of the Light magics, and screamed into existence around myself and the goons as Major Heal triggered, restoring vitality to us all, and snapping my arm back into place, restoring function. Ruby was suddenly in our midst, but I was able to withdraw from the fighting, grabbing Roman. "What's the evac? They are getting captured, Junior can spring them easily enough. We need to clear out, and… I guess this is the end of my being a Hunter." I swallowed that lump. I had to act, and I owed Roman for being very good to me. He smirked, one hand on my shoulder, as I hugged him, before calling out the spell. "Twist time's whirlwind like the gales and lightning bolts race 'cross the sky!" Light glyph once more, as Time took less hold on myself and Roman, enhancing us by one fifth of our speed. I grabbed both cases I could, going for the heaviest ones whilst Yang and Ruby made short work of the Goons, and we were soon running.

I boosted Roman to the fire escape, before I saw Ruby and Yang both facing me down. "Toss me the cases, I'll give you some cover fire." Two shots forced their retreat whilst I lobbed the shock absorbant cases to Roman, and drew my sword. It was a simple, nameless Greatsword. "Kid, get moving!" I drew on what little aura I had left after lobbing spells in quick succession, and exploded into a leap upwards, one hand grabbing the fire escape. I ran up, seeing the two girls moving for it themselves, and made a running leap for the Bullhead that Roman was boarding, slamming into the back wall. "End of the line girls. You lost Beacon a Hunter, this would have been his last day! But he's mine now. And I will treat him a hundred times better than either of you ever could." With his parting quip, the man loves his quips, I looked at the rage in Yang's eyes, and looked away.

" _Love running deeper than hatred, your reward is due!_ " Who fit those parameters? Deneb's spell activated just as I watched Roman hurl a Dust jewel at the evilly dark pink of Tainted Love's manifestation arced into… Oh. Oh God No. Roman handed me a phial, a blue liquid I recognized. It was a strong stimulant, and pounding it back, I stood, looking Glynda Goodwitch in the eye.

"Mister Emile, get off that Bullhead, and I will consider ignoring this infraction of the Law." I could see the faint tinge of pink in her eyes. Deneb's witchery made Beacon doubly dangerous for me. I knew of no magic I could access that would free Glynda. She was cursed to a dark sexual craving for me until she was impregnated. There was only a ten percent chance it would pass into merely an intense affection, a lessening to 'I want this person in my life forever' from 'I want this person in ME forever'.

"Roman. Get the pilot to gun it when I finish the incantation. Glynda… I'm sorry, but I will not abandon my employers, not even for my future. I gave my word that until I left their employ, I was their man in body and soul." I held both hands before myself, and saw her manifesting her own Semblance. "I never showed you the full extent of my abilities, by your request. Let's call this a retest. Semblance against Semblance."

"If you fail, you begin remedial training immediately, and I will not be gentle. I have so much tantric work to do, to strengthen that pathetic aura of yours Peter." I saw her lick her lips, before I sighed, forcing myself to focus on my spell. Arcane manifestations formed before both of us, magenta pink for hers, as her cloak blew back, and pale blue-white for my own.

"Avatar of Light, from winking stars, DESCEND TO ME!" My semblance allowed me to summon certain manifestations of the magical elements alongside using magic. I had the greatest affinity with Light, and so often used this one if I must use them… The creature was a brilliant white Will-of-the-Wisp, facing the Instructor with extending tendrils of light, for I had targeted Glynda alone with the spell, and it began releasing bursts of light at her, six in total. The bullhead pulled away… Only for Ruby to get what had to be a once in a lifetime shot off, blowing my aura into nothingness, and taking me clear off my feet. "GO!" I was falling. The fall from this height, bereft of aura? Would snap my neck. I could take vindication in that. I saw a grouping of explosions slam into Goodwitch. Better I die, than know dishonour.

If it was not for the magenta light that grasped me as I fell, safely decelerating me before I hit the ground, leaving me laying on the pavement with closed eyes, shattered dreams, and suppressed screams. "You're a huntress! Can I have your autograph!" Ruby's exuberance was the final humiliation, as Yang leapt down, rolling me over, and crouching down over me.

"Still refusing to take our generosity love?"

Mistrali culture inherited a peculiar tradition from Lodis. Gifts must always be refused thrice, to show the sincerity of the one who offers it. This would be the third time someone offered me this foolish idea of abandoning my allies. "I am honour bound to. Just as my honour compels this." I slowly rose. I was far from in peak form, my vision was blurring from exhaustion and fatigue, but I drew my sword once more, holding it before myself, shaking as I tried to compensate for the weight. "Lodis demands no less."

Glynda idly waved a hand from the rooftop, and my sword was forced into the ground, before I found myself on the ground again, light holding me down. "This is not a gift, but a command Peter, from someone who has authority. I am aware of the Arc family and their bloody foolish traditions, having worked for with Aramis in the past. He was your mentor on the paperwork you offered us, and given the lack of a colour in your name, the alias is easy to see. You will attend Beacon. You will excel in your studies, and you will report for detention until I see fit to release you from the extra training I am heaping onto you for that dismal showing. Miss Xiao Long, carry our wayward friend. Miss Rose, follow me, we need to take you all down to the station for statements, and I need to slap a tracking anklet onto Mister Emile."

"Yang, can you get my earbuds, and hit play on my scroll? I can't move." My 'girlfriend' was nice enough to comply, surprisingly tender for having just been on the opposite sides of a brawl. I slipped out to the strains of 'Killer Queen'. Apparently I had it on loop, because that same song was playing as I found myself in a rather uncomfortable chair, stripped to the waist, with Glynda across from me, sitting on the table, one stockinged foot on my crotch. I felt her running a toe over my length, before she grasped my zipper, and pulled it down without any effort. I refused to believe she had such dexterity with only her feet, and thusly assumed her semblance was involved. In colloquial terms? I was proper fucked, in both metaphor and literal terms.

"You have a tracking chip imbedded into the back of your neck, Peter. I wanted a more effective way to keep an eye on you. Despite what I told those adorable young girls? You are not under arrest, or any form of probation. Instead, I am going to offer you a choice, and I think you will understand which I hope you will pick." She was stroking my shaft with her… semblance, as she removed her foot, holding a finger up as she worked me to the point of near release, before slowing to keep me there. "One, is that you walk out that door, and come home with me. I hire you as an aide for my classes, marry you, and you serve as a stay at home father for our children once I am convinced the world will not explode on my leaving Ozpin alone for a week. I will not press you for sex until we are married, and you can pay my bride price with your helping me with the mountains of paperwork that the idiots I work with generate. But I tell your sisters what I found out about you, and I will never let slip what your blood test showed." She shifted, walking forward to sit on my knees, leaning to have her lips against my ear. "Or, you can agree to enrol in Beacon, and train to become a Hunter. I will have you in detention for some amazing sex every day, and you and I hold an illicit and secret relationship. You dishonour yourself for me, and we make you into someone normal, if a bit old fashioned… And I tell no one who your father actually is, but you. However… We need to consummate this liaison here, and now, on this table." She slipped out of my lap, before laying back on the table.

"... I have no good way out." She just smiled, before I stepped between her legs. I bent forwards, over her, and found her lips all too welcoming. She moaned softly into my kiss, hands running on my back. Her body was hot, wanting, all too desirous of my affections. Deneb had screwed me over in the worst way, and… As Glynda's tongue found itself into my mouth, pulling mine into hers, the older woman hugging me into herself? I realized I could care less. Glynda's embrace eased my fears, and soon she was rolling me onto my side, tracing her fingers down my chest. She had such beautiful eyes, vivid green to my own venomous ones, before she leaned deeper into me, exploring every inch of my mouth, memorizing me to the millimeter. After a few moments, she slipped a hand lower, and shifted something under her skirt, before she pulled away, a faint, lustful smirk on her face.

"The way is clear, and you just have to bridge the gap. No turning back, Peter. Once you lay with me, you are mine forever. I expect you will sleep with some of these hormonal girls… Mmm, I encourage it. You are a healthy young man, and frankly, it will be excellent cover for us. But before you pass out on me, you need to say three little words once I've milked you dry..." She pecked my lips again, and her calfs pulled me forwards, until I was just touching her entrance with my length. Inhaling… I thrust, whilst I kissed her, pulling Glynda as close as I could, rolling her atop me, and beginning to buck into her. What could I say? If I am to eat a poisoned dish, it is best to lick the plate. I raced into a climax, and heard her moan softly as a heat washed over me. "I was edging myself at the same time… I… I wanted to make sure you knew I was serious…" She purred, leaning to nip my cheek as I rocked into her, intending to take a second and third orgasm from her. This was all HER doing. Damn Deneb! I roughly kissed Glynda again, projecting frustrations from the actual Witch I knew, onto the Goodwitch that panted at my thrusts. She was smiling, a sincere joy in her expression. "Well, your Aura seems to be recovering nicely." She had a beautiful laugh, as she ran her fingers through my hair, and laid her hands on either side of my head, bracing herself to rock against me. "No more of your amateur flailing my love, just let me take care of you. I need to tell you about our soon to be child's ancestors~" Glynda stole a kiss, before she whispered to me in softer tones, secretive whispers. "I'm Mistrali. I know, surprisingly small world. Your father? Is Aramis Arc. I know he likely would be surprised, since I know for a fact he never slept with Bianca Schnee, but this is the nature of Doctor Merlot's work… I suppose I should reveal something else, beloved."

I was on the verge of ejaculation. "Whaaaaat….?" My voice was drawn out, and met with a soft, almost seductive laugh.

"My mother's name was Jeanne." My vision went white. "That our parents tried to have a seventh child in their sixties was foolish, but I suppose it is best that I keep you, and your relation to those Atlesian bastards hidden. Our family's own dirty little secret. Well, besides the fact that I hated everyone else for being unwilling to live in the modern world. My sisters are likely somewhere, scattered to six winds, or supporting our fool of a father… But I took his son, his pride and joy, and corrupted him. I AM a Good Witch." My half-sister kissed me, and I shivered, only for her to hug me tighter. "Say it brother, and I will make sure you are never alone again."

"... I love you." I was already corrupt. What was one… possible… Lie?


	4. Chapter 4

The room was intoxicating, and the bed was the worst of all. Simply laying there, she knew that if she did not find something to curb the mental images, she would owe him more than just a dry cleaning fee for sweating all over his bed. It was utterly stupid of her, to think she could spy on them without notice, but she had done it because she loved Ghira and Kali. And that damn scorpion had found her, wounding her, and making her escape almost a non-option. If it had not been for the woman's jubilance at a successful heist, she would have been killed then and there. "She is Adam's dog. She is probably just here to deliver a report, and decided to be coy." The woman had burned out most of the poison, the intense heat changing it. "Roman, take her to Junior's club, and tuck her into our friends bed. Send him a message that one of ours needs him urgently." The man, Roman, had been gentle with her, despite the words of racism. He carried her bridal style, and his pet Psychopath, the Pink and Brownette? Had been kind enough to press Ice dust shards for her to help regulate temperature. Once they got to the Bullhead, Roman spoke more freely.

"I need you to pass a message to the man who will be healing you. He did a good thing for me, and he deserves a bonus." It was a great deal of Lien in the box he handed her. "And that I want him to find a way out from the Crazy bitch. Neo and I are working our own angle, and I bet you have yours to get out from Adam." She did. Kali would take her in, and Ghira would break the Bull. "The Kid has something to him. You'll see it when you meet him, he is all those legends of Knighthood manifest. And he's on our side." Roman was wearing a smirk, as both he and Neo helped carry her into the club, past Junior's quizzical eye. "You know when they talk of God, I laugh it off, it's all self-righteous tripe. He talks of God? He believes it, and I've seen him do crazy shit with his Semblance. Shit only Schnee should be able to pull off. No dust, just his aura, and his psychotic faith." He shouldered open the door, and tucked her in, before slipping something into her mouth. "Chew it slowly, swallow it like it's rock candy. The kid makes these in his spare time. It can't cure what that bastard, Tyrian, does with the tail, but it can certainly arrest it and give you more time." He had shut the door, a girl in white with long black hair hand feeding her some broth and helping her take tea, claiming it would help, a few hours later.

The room was plain, spartan even, but it smelt of a warmth. The only way she could describe it was sunlit meadows and rainbow hued sky, with a tinge of gem hewn caves. She was fairly unremarkable in her Semblance, the ability to track aura by scent, but her Faunus gifts… She was a chameleon, and that gave her blending, alongside the full suite of sensory enhancements… But she had pheromones. Strong ones, that let her convey emotions, and encourage them in others. It made diplomacy and infiltration quite easy… With other Faunus. They were not as useful with humans. The lack of sharpened senses made it a clumsier thing. The problem of course being… she was saturating the room. She was tired, drained, weak, but wanting. She wanted to feel this aura against hers, to feel this human moan in pleasure at her attention. Once she ensnared him, he would be led into an all new world with her. She felt her nipples harden, and her skin being hot took a new edge, the warmth piercing to her core. She wanted to feel him beside her, behind her, before her, inside her… All over her. He was a human, and according to Roman, a Knight in shining armour, coming to save her from the villains cruel predations. Blake Belladonna loved books. Ilia Amitola, escaped 'companion' of Whitley Schnee, loved to hear oral histories, tales of daring spoken from Bard to Bard, the scent of woodsmoke and pine needles, open air, forest, and marshmallow smores. She left when Whitley changed from indulgent 'master' into a cruel shadow of the man she was fond of. Adam saved her, and broke the Schnee brat over his knee. If Adam had not descended into darkness, sold his soul to the woman in Red… Cinder… Ilia would have done everything in her power to repair his heart. The smell of pain, of straw, of burning flesh and overwhelming sex, cooked pumpkin and cinnamon overwhelming approached, with the barest hint of cotton candy. "A Faunus to sic on the Schnee bastard? Salem undermines herself time and again. She really is Endora in corpse at the least."

The woman was classically beautiful, and youthful in ways Ilia could not contend with, but she made the chameleon feel fear unlike anything she ever knew. "Another disgusting Demi-human I have to put on my mage's cock. If it's not cats and rabbits, it's lizards. You make my skin crawl! But! I know he will fuck you cross eyed with proper incentive. Bad luck for you, little one. You? Are bait." Ilia shook as she approached. Her aura screamed of terror, fear, and pain. The Sadism of the woman was all over her, and Deneb licked her lips as she whispered spells over the Chameleon, pinning her shoulders under bare knee. "Pleasure me and make that tongue useful, whore. I am making the rest of your body worth something, and need a reward." A gloved hand grabbed Ilia by the hair, forcing freckled face into the Wicce's bared and hairless sex, and holding it to the point that Ilia couldn't breathe until she began to awkwardly tongue at the folds and core. It was hot, moist, and tasted of… Pumpkin pie? Ilia was straight, she had laid with Whitley a handful of times, and admitted she had no interest in the female form, but she knew that a woman does not taste of that… The grip loosened, and the fear of asphyxiation was past as Ilia worked on the Wicce's folds. "I need to make you more appealing… You have to have curves, he finally fucked that teacher and she has them in abundance. Oh the things I need to do to you… Ugh, poison? I can't wait until he kills them all, and bends the Red witch over a table and fucks her like he should. I take his soul, give him the powers of a memetic sex god, and a fucking Death Templar, and he refuses to become debauched. I hate it. I hate that I am going to be proven wrong. But, I am going to make you~ into my agent of his corruption."

The woman got off of Ilia's face, and walked away from the slender chameleon Faunus, stepping into the bathroom, before reappearing holding a pink pumpkin. She straddled the Faunus, and looked her in the eye. "Are you going to co-operate like a good whore, or am I going to have to make you do what I want?" Ilia could barely work out a hiss of protest. "Work with me lizard-cunt. I'll cure the poison, and you'll have stronger muscles, greater coordination… Hell, I'll give you… Mmm… I'll give you Bardic Magic." Ilia's eyes focused on the Wicce's, and slipped to her smile. "There we have it, your leverage." She set the pumpkin into her lap, extracting a knife and fork, and sticking them into the pink mass before setting it on the nighttable. "I need to help you purge the poison, and clean you out, after all, I want to make him do some naughty things with you, but I want my pet mage to stay clean. Come along little one." She lifted Ilia into her arms, frightening strength showing as she carried the chameleon into the washroom in a fireman's carry, her ridiculous hat's brim brushing into the Faunus' back. The shower was cold as Deneb washed and scrubbed Ilia, but it helped combat the fire in her body, and let her breathe easily. "Mmm, nice big watermelons will do for you, honey. I should make them pumpkins, but even with how badly I am reshaping you, fuckdoll, you'd break. But no more ninjutsu for you darling~ you'll need to learn to fight like a Knight. Lucky for you! He's an Arc~ And you know what that means." Ilia would have whimpered.

The Arc family, when they were still prominent, were a scary alternative to the mines or the streets. If you had a way to be worth something to them, and weren't afraid of never being anything more than a servant, well loved, well groomed, well cared for and dressed, but never free, never equal? You could find a life with an Arc. Words like Yeomen, Man-at-arms, those were Arc words that came from those Mistrali knights. If they had not been just as suicidal in their valour as they demanded from their retainers, they would have been the worst enemies of the Fang, past even the Schnee. A Schnee cared about money, could be bribed, could be bargained with. An Arc had the Charisma to make you love the chains he bound you to him with. There was a reason the six sisters were feared. And why the death of Jeanne Arc, her unborn son, and the disappearance of her husband was a sigh of relief to the White Fang. An Arc son? Would have fractured the Fang. People remembered that name when War was called for. People remembered the hero standing before Beacon. The Man who deposed the Last Tyrant. The man who betrayed Lagune Winchester at Fort Castle, shutting the gates, and welcoming "My Yeomen, My Men-at-arms, My Beloved Children. Welcome Home!" Faunus bullets had overwhelmed a Knight, but he still painted the castle red with Faunus blood by himself. The beginning of the end of the Revolution, because some of the Faunus remembered Arcs kindly.

Menagerie would tear itself apart. With Violetta, the Seventh, Eldest sister missing… Ilia felt the Wicce run fingers over the tattoo on her stomach, the Schnee snowflake. "No. You don't belong to them anymore, you belong to -my- mage." Fingertips stroked the tattoo, and it slowly melted away, before… It was replaced with a different crest. The image of crimson starburst and extruding cruciform. A symbol she did not know. "And by extent, you belong to me." She was holding a red liquid to Ilia's mouth, gently encouraging her to drink. It smelt of cherries, of cotton candy… And of fetid rot just beneath. "This will clean you out, cleanse the poison, and begin the changes." She pressed on Ilia's jaw just so, forcing her to take it into her mouth. "It will also make you into one of my Halloweens unless you eat the pink pumpkin, Dearie~" She left Ilia as she was feeling it churn her stomach. Deneb watched, impassive, as Ilia began vomiting out everything she had eaten. It was only the beginning, Deneb having the decency to hold her hair. Once it passed, Deneb smirked, and proffered a blue one. "Drink or no pumpkin." Ilia hated this woman, but drank. Deneb left her as the stomach rumbling began.

…

Ilia felt weak, and almost boneless. She was nearly completely empty, passing only water and air in the end. Deneb walked back in after the last of it cleared, throwing an arm around Ilia, guiding her to the tub, and scrubbing her down again, taking particularly sadistic delight in Ilia's soft moans. "Almost there punkin !~ Just need to plump you up, and gag you so I can unleash his big, throbbing, red hot Arc blade on your cockholsters." The shower head was pulsing warm, almost hot water into Ilia's maidenhood and rear, purposely getting them drenched and flooded to clean them out that extra step as Deneb manhandled the young woman. "Excellent. Time to get you fed." Carrying her back to the bed, cleansing it with whispered arcane words, Deneb began forking pieces of the bright pink pumpkin into Ilia's mouth, patiently waiting until the entire thing had been eaten. Ilia's body flared like an inferno. Her eyes closed.

…

He was the most beautiful man Ilia had ever seen, and Deneb had him in a chokehold, pinning him to the wall. "You miserable Templar imitator! I should have used Martym, or Oz, not Alphonse. You inherited his nobility too well! I am _ordering_ you to do it." She lifted him off the ground, one elbow pinning shoulder, forearm under his chin. "You have both eyes but seem to still be blind to the danger I am to you. Keep pissing me off, and it will be a pumpkin on those shoulders!" The man was crimson haired, brilliant green eyes shining with the raw power of his aura. It was sick, his aura was so wrong, but the potency was plain to smell. He had so much less of what should be there, but it was like molasses in density. Ilia tried to make her body listen. Her newly thickened wrists couldn't slip out of the handcuffs. She was hogtied, on her side, hand and ankle cuffs keeping her from moving whilst she had a ring gag keeping her from doing much.

"Enough dallying, she is still poisoned, and the only antidote I will give you needs to be given through fulfilling the task I gave you when I tore your soul out you miserable Templar! You could have just fucked the sisters, one of them was even jailbait, but no, you have to be the Knight in Shining Armour. You remember everything that happened, you remember that battle with Destin. These filthy animals are without Magic. All of them, Pureblooded Human or Demi-human alike, all of them lack the magic that is OUR birthright. Or do I have to take one of your eyes so you will see clearly?" She had a knife, and it was perilously close to those beautiful green eyes, Ilia wanted, irrationally for just a moment, all her children to have… The Chameleon squirmed, trying to free herself. This woman was crazed, and she had to save the human, he was just a teen. White Fang or no, this made her stomach turn to watch.

Deneb dropped the redhead, before gripping his jaw and squeezing just enough to force his mouth open, grabbing some vial of fluid, and forcibly pouring it into his mouth. "Swallow you disobedient wretch, then find your misplaced testicles, and rape that faunus like a good little minion." A blow to his stomach with the witches gloved hand over his face forced him to swallow, almost choking on whatever concoction was in that phial. "I should have resorted to beating you earlier, but I had hoped I could make you see reason. You are better than these animals. They are nothing more than breeding chattel to you, so treat them like such damn you!" He was coughing, Ilia could smell blood. He had a hand over his stomach, whispering…

"May my prayers become a beacon, guide the gods to heal my blight…" The glyph was of a sic pointed star in white and blue. The cold light it shone all around blinded as she saw light fill his body. The reek of blood passed, and his body began healing. The young man slowly stood, and sighed, shaking his head. "My hand seems duly forced, Deneb. Get out, I do not need an audience." The witch snorted, rolling her eyes, and walking out. "I can not convey in words how much I wish I was not doing this to you, Miss. You are quite beautiful, but the circumstances are ugly as sin." He was approaching, stripping as he did, his beautiful body getting closer to her, before he bent over her, and Ilia craned, moaning as he began to kiss her neck, his hands looping around her, pulling her closer to him, lifting her into his embrace before he fumbled with something, freeing her from her bonds, and finally pulling the gag off of her. "It is your life miss, I can not take that choice fro" Ilia shoved him onto the bed, straddling his face,

"My body is on fire, I don't care, just sate me, please!" She twisted her position, getting him nestled into her backside properly, feeling him give in. Her moans of pleasure were almost screams, newly sensitive body entirely unprepared for this. Listening to that witch prattle on and on and on about corrupting this young man, it was boring and cruel both. Ilia was going to corrupt him good and proper just to make that bitch shut up. While he dutifully worked on her rear, Ilia pleasedly wiggling her new full body to take a little dominance that had been cruelly stripped from her in her pathetic day, she slipped her hand lower, grasping his length and stroking slowly, watching his sword as she worked on it. The Arc was not going to release anything until she had at least two orgasms. Then she was going to fuck him crosseyed, kiss him breathless, and take him home to Kali. An Arc they could mold properly? Adam's idiot faction would tear itself apart! She craned further down, giving one or two tender licks of his length, encouraging him to work on her more fervently, her hand reaching back to stroke his pretty red hair, before she blew gently on his length, eliciting a twitch or two. It was mostly thanks to how newly sensitive her body was, but she felt an orgasm tear through her, and she was left panting before she shifted, getting her womanhood over his mouth, and encouraging him with an idle pump or two of her hand over his length to continue his good work. Deneb's work must have left her hypersensitive, she was left to consider.

She screamed for her second orgasm, and almost greedily, she pressed his face deeper into her womanhood, coming down from the high of a second orgasm wanting more. Once that length was inside her, she was going to be working him over, and worry about him, it was only fair he pay ahead of time… It took closer to twenty minutes, she was letting him breathe, before she got a third orgasm, and was panting for breath, colours fluctuating wildly…. When had Violetta Arc gotten in? She paused, and realized that Violetta had that crop pointed at her. "Hands off my brother. I have a witch tell me he is forcing himself on you, so I come to break his everything, and what do I see? A greedy faunus. You and I both know what Arcs SHOULD do with greedy faunus, do we not?" Ilia trembled, but slowly slid off of him. The door was closed, and in a flare of purple aura, locked. Violetta's green eyes bored into Ilia's. "My baby brother is submissive, loving, and will let you walk all over him. I can see you owe him some recompense. All of it, at least three for every release he gave you, in your womb." Ilia blinked, expecting an attack not to be told to… "You work for me now, Miss Amitola, don't look so surprised, I work for Beacon. My baby brother found me last night, and I took him in, tending to his broken wings, correcting all the painful mistakes that he had been put through. Depending on how good you are to him, I might even return you to Menagerie. Or you can hire on as my personal secretary, I will protect you from Cinder Fall's minions, and you will help me keep his libido tamed." Ilia's eyes narrowed, help?

"You mispoke, please tell me you mispoke, the Arc family did not seriously condone…"

"He's only my half-sibling, and I am on birth control Ilia. But you will be the center of two very pleased Arc's attentions if you perform well. Consider this a job interview. You're being a humanophile is known to us." How many of her other secrets were laid bare to them? "Spywork is such messy business, but it has such delightful rewards, no?" Violetta Arc slipped behind Ilia, guiding her down onto her brother's length before she was manually working Ilia's body, one hand over her now large breasts, and another over her clitoris, manipulating them manually, chin on Ilia's shoulder, whispering to her softly. "Deneb is an unknown, but we've seen her do things like this before. My brother is her victim now. I do not talk to my sisters, so I am asking you to help me protect him. I'll help you fix the damage, or train you to use this new body in combat, but…"

"..." Ilia's mouth went dry. It had to be something Deneb did to her, she was a faunus, even if sex with humans was her greatest fetish, she wanted equality, not to… "I need to bring him back to Menagerie, Ghira and Kali need to know. We can protect him there, and he can…" Violetta twisted Ilia's clitoris just shy of painfully.

"What makes you think I am letting my baby brother out of my sight. End of the first semester, two trainee teams, including him, will escort you back. You can file your reports, and stay there, or come back. Try to pull something like that, try to take him hostage, and I will break you physically, then I will break you mentally. After that, I will personally see him impregnate you like a broodmare for the rest of his tenure in Beacon. My brother listens to me like a good child." Ilia came with a scream as Violetta bit into her shoulder whilst the Arc teen filled her with liquid heat. "Now that I have you vulnerable, hot, and wanting, Peter, stop, tell me everything you know about White Fang operations in Vale." Ilia whimpered as the length in her stopped, the teen panting, covered in sweat. Damn the Arcs! They make you love the chains.

Ilia was so close to a fourth climax, and Violetta Arc, better known to Vale as Glynda Goodwitch, worked her to be just on the verge, but refused to let her cross into it. Dragging it out for minutes, soon passing into close to half an hour… Ilia broke, and offered up everything she knew. The rest of the night became a blur of having two very pleased Arcs help her break in a new body, before they carried her into a bullhead, and let her sleep caught between them in a bed in Beacon. She admitted to herself… This was the safest she had felt in years.


	5. Chapter 5

The Ring burned, and I snapped awake, feeling the embrace of both my kin, and the woman who had chosen to lay with me. It took me a few moments to not see things I did not know, images of a life I did not remember living. At their sight, I was left melancholy. At their passing, I was enraged, and in the brief moments when I regained my sense of self, I remembered a constant tone. I did not weep, for a Knight of Lodis knows no tears, but the Ring burned. Cinder's momento was leaving it's mark in my flesh, and as I got a better look at it, I realized it was growing spines of metal into my knuckles. This ring seemed to have little love for me. After the fiasco of last night, having a Faunus throw herself at me, having to deal with Deneb drunk and… Ugh. Junior and Deneb had hit it off, and the poor bastard didn't even notice how much liquid hate was pouring off his girls. "Hrrrgh." My head pounded.

Glynda thrashed them, his goons, and Junior, with Deneb slipping out the back. The poor man had no luck with blonde women it seemed. Slowly, I drew my mind from the haze of headache, pain, and dehydration, inched my limbs free of this new addition to my life, a Chameleon Faunus that Deneb had ruined the life of. The lass had chosen to give herself to us. I would need to look into learning Biomancy to fix her body, because she looked uncomfortable with the mass she carried around, despite how much I enjoyed a set of curves like this… Maybe she would grow to like them? I shelved such traitorous thoughts, and finally freed my arms. Next step, pulling my legs, and member free without Glynda noticing. I had to twist, shimmy, and inch myself free using my fingertips on the bed sheets, but soon both women were embracing one another, with a pillow between them to act as a stand in for myself, whilst I slipped into the next room, shutting the door, and turned the sink on to splash a measure of water on my face. The chill of it started my adrenal system up, letting me fully awake, before I set the water to cold and numbed the burning of the rings growth.

She was near. She had been near when I felt it burn in the dust shop, she had been the pilot. The woman who injured me like this, who proclaimed herself the Black Queen. She was nearby, and I could only guess why. I was forced to pay the Piper. I was dressed in a loose housecoat, and little else, locating slippers and slipping them on before slipping out into the Hall, shutting the door gently. Glynda lived on Beacon's campus, and with my scroll id'd into her room, I padded quietly into the hallways. I drew my hair back into a ponytail as I walked, frowning at the absence of the moon. A handful of turns, and soon I was at one of Beacon's side exits, stepping out into the courtyard.

She was dressed more practically, though her mild annoyance in her facial features, visible to me from the angle before I called out to her, mollified. She was wearing this for me. She talked to Roman, got a sense of what I found attractive. "I did not think you willing to enter Beacon grounds, Miss Fall." She turned, wearing a faintly amused expression at my state of dress. "Forgive the casual wear. I felt your summon, and the pain was enough to drive me to distraction."

"The Moonless Band is most restless on nights matching it's name. It finds no pleasure on these nights, but for drinking your blood. It bonds your soul to Salem and I." She was dressed in a black catsuit, though the shoulders were bare. I pondered a moment, looking at her throat and shoulders. "Roman explained your… Fetish, for seeing a woman more heavily dressed. You come from a very closed society."

"And you are always burning inside." I could feel the warmth of her from here. She nodded, a coy smile on her lips before she crossed the courtyard, and extended a hand to me. Black glove was taken into my unmarred hand, and brought to lips for knightly kiss, as is only Lodissian and proper. She leaned inwards, pulling me closer, to take a kiss from me, a more Mistrali passion in her tongue thrusting into my mouth. Her warmth was all consuming, riled and roused, infectious in my chest, before I returned her kiss, showing I was able to be human when enticed. We parted, her eyes glowing with light, before I whispered to her. "O fist of ice, cold ice like steel, give frost to blade and spill both blood and warmth of life!" My hand rested on her collarbone and throat's meeting, before she felt the chill of Icy Mana flow into her. I could hear a sigh, and then a slight shiver from her.

"... I had forgotten what cold felt like." Inclining my head, she stepped into my personal space, pulling my housecoat open and wrapping herself in my arms. Dressed as she was against my naked form, she had a deadened reaction to my warmth, but there was still a pleased sigh. "Never feeling cold made it so I could never feel the warmth of someone sharing their own lifewarmth." She simply luxuriated in that feeling, face buried in my neck, and hands resting on my back. "But I have a task from my mistress. I am to seduce you, and I am not about to fail at the sharing of a little warmth. Until I have your oath of allegiance to myself and my mistress both, you can expect that I will drag you to share in my pleasure." I let my head cant to the side softly, before she had a firm grip on my wrist, pulling me towards a bullhead, forcing me to hold my coat closed with one hand. "You really should not worry about modesty, Lodissian. Where I am taking you is culturally expected to show all of who you are."

I answered with a raised eyebrow before she was dragging me onto the airship, and pushing me into a seat behind the controls. A soft grunt as she flops onto my lap, pulling the belt over us both, pulling the robe over herself, her rear wiggling just so to elicit a reaction from me, and her full head of hair burying my face in it's mass. I obliged her intent, wrapping my arms around her, the woman giving another soft sigh. Yes, fine, I admit it, I was attracted to her. I saw the fire inside of her, not the power that she held over elemental flame, but the passionate desire for power. I could sense it, knowing that flame in myself, in Raven when I crossed swords with her in that museum in Mistral, and in so many Huntresses. If I could stoke the flame inside of Cinder Fall, and channel it… I could stop her from becoming Raven Branwen. We landed a few hours later in a mountain region I did not recognize. "My Mistress is Lady of All Grimm. Her servants can find beautiful places that no other can." Cinder was shedding the cat suit for a bikini in red with a yellow flame pattern on it. "Hot springs. Can you bolster yourself against heat? These are a bit more ferociously hot than most."

"Give unto me your unseen shield, your skin of soot; protect this self from burning blade." The fire spirits answered my whispered spell, shielding me from heat and flame, before Cinder surrounded me in blaze, the housecoat burning away, leaving me naked as a newborn, and soon she was leading me down the bullhead ramp right into a natural hotspring. A single shove left me hitting the water back first before she was leaping in after me, pinning my wrists, and claiming my lips as her own. Long black and crimson hair splayed out in the water, my shoulders against a shallow, with her sucking my tongue into her mouth, before I felt her hand drift downwards, the impromptu wrestling between us in our joined mouth, my hand on her waist, fingers drifting over the ties of her Bikini… she had my temples in her hands, holding me into the kiss. Not the hungry dominating thing of Glynda, Ruby's timid touch of lips, or even the lavicious embrace of Yang's lips on mine. This was a wanting thing, but it enticed with the promise of more than just sex. It was a kiss that spoke of a life together unfettered by silly things like morality.

We broke the meeting of our lips, as Cinder let her hands drift to my own on the side ties of her bikini. "If it comes off, you have to keep me warm, Templar Knight. You have to give me everything I ask. When my fist clenches, crack it open, before I use it, and lose my cool, if I smile, tell me some bad news, before I laugh, and act like a fool." We kissed, briefly, before her song continued. "If I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat, and if I shiver, keep me warm, let me wear your coat." I knew I liked the song, but not from where. If it had not been for the sound of footsteps on rock, I would have moved forwards. "Mercury, what the hell is this?"

"He does not hear you, Miss Fall. My son is loyal to me once more, now that I have found strength again." I turned, staring at the mass of shadows behind the fully dressed Mercury Black. And saw the only thing I needed to. The shining purple light of the Gemini Stone. It glowed with the light of Necromancy, corrupted and twisted Divine and Dark both. He was one of the Dead. "And now I will take my revenge on the woman who allied with my killer. My idiot son is now a puppet, and you will follow as a fuck toy I think. Mercury, fetch the interloper." The silver haired man turned, walking into the bullhead, and I could hear combat, as Cinder drew Dustglass bow and arrows, the element of Fire warming me even behind the Pyroguard invocation. "That I may do this in the same instance as killing the Lodissian, as that Bandit witch has paid me a healthy retainer to do, even returning life to me…"

"Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai belong to me, Wraith. Go back to the darkness, you are not wanted here." I kept my eyes on the stone within the mass of darkness. We were within the twilit hours, maybe four to Dawn… He would have opened with a volley of Necromancy if he was a Lich, he had corporeal form, even if it was enshrouded in darkness… He wore the stone after all… That and speaking ruled out Phantom or Skeleton. He was either a Zombie, or… "Ugh… His eyes…"

Vampire. I held hand forwards, and called to Phoelarh. "Swaying rise ye watery fist, with fury flow, crush bone and flesh!" The water answered my prayer, as a burst of it struck the rock below Marcus Black's undead form. I chained my prayer into a Greater Litany. I would normally summon the Will-o'-the-wisp of Wisplight, but this was a place of nature, of beauty, untamed and wild. The Elemental Spirits had greater power here than any other. "O sainted maiden of clear spring, give Death's reward unto those fools who break the stillness of this place!" The Undine rose from the water, a mask of fury and wrath on nude female form. Bursts of harsh and hardened water rained on Marcus Black, and I pulled Cinder away from his gaze. "Cinder, I will handle Marcus, go, save your ally." She nodded slowly, joining the gray in the bullhead. I turned, seeing Marcus Black as the veil of shadows parted from his form. He looked every inch an older version of his son, and I felt disgust at seeing him. He had taken a step on the road to becoming an Ogre. And it would not be Ishtar, Filana, or Phoelarh he kept company with, but Ashmodai and Diablo. He was a minion of Hell. I stood to my full height in the water, and took an unarmed stance. I was bereft of sword, bereft of much of my aura, but hopefully, Cinder could escape, free her ally from Marcus' thrall, and that would have to be enough. For if I backed down from this challenge, I did not deserve to see Lodis come, nor kiss Empress Endora's perfect lips. A Vampire was an abomination to God. "Ask of me, and I shall give unto thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, and for thy blessing, all the ends of the Earth. I shall break them with a Rod of Iron, and Dash them to pieces, like a potters vessel."

"Prayer? I have not had the pleasure of murdering a man of faith in my lifetime. You are so rare to find. In our dying world, what is there to pray to."

"Be wise now therefore ye Kins, be admonished, ye Judges of the Earth, kiss the Son lest he be angry, and thee perish in the way, though his wrath be kindled but a little. Phoelarh sent to us his Herald, Lodis. I pray to the Sun, Vampire. My soul is prepared." I took my stance, and he laughed with mockery.

"Little Priest, he can not hear you. No God touches Remnant, no Angel. There is only power, and the will to use it. The Bandit granted me this stone, and all the power within it. Denizens of the abyss! From ink of blackest night, I summon you! Darkness to me!" The sigil of Dark Magic formed around him, and Marcus Black took three steps back as I saw Grimm form from them. I exhaled. The Grimm were the Dead. And that meant I must end them, for Endora, for Lodis, and for Phoelarh. "Kill him, suck clean his marrow, devour his flesh, and drink his blood!"

"Give me the sword by hand of goddess blessed, to hew the dark and bring the light!" I drank in his look of concern as the shimmering light surrounded me. And then I exploded into a punch, right into the core of the first Ursa. The monster broke apart into fragments of shining purple and silver, the colour of Lanselot Tartaros, the man I had been joined to in soul by Deneb. It drew into me, the Grimm's anima, and I inhaled. My aura exploded to life, and I rolled into a front flip, up, over the Beowulf, landing on a Spiderform Grimm I knew no name for, but the Light cared not, my blow killing it with a single stroke, the beast screaming as it was hungrily devoured by my Semblance. The Schnee summoned their enemies. I made them part of me, bolstered my sickly soul, cruelly torn open by Deneb, and became mighty, feeding on their strength, supping on their Vitae. I broke the neck of the Beowulf, the beast already one I had devoured, and so it faded into blackness, not the shimmering light of my Semblance's embrace. My Aura was a tangible thing, the water trembling at my approach, before I reached forward, and thrust my hand into the Pumaform Grimm that leapt for me, devouring it too. I inhaled, and felt at peace. I was strong. I was strong. I was strong enough to protect them all.

"Bastard Templar Knight! The Bandit said nothing of you being made stronger by the Grimm!" I reached forwards, grasping the stone, and yanked it from him even as his hands tore at mine. The cracking of bone and the flaring of pain saw the Ring torn from me as Marcus Black died again. I repressed a scream, and saw the ashes take the form of a Raven which flew away. I held the Gemini Stone in hand, felt the secrets of Necromancy opened to me with no small horror. None the less, I exhaled, and held it before my breast. The stone sank into me, icy fingers running through my veins. It was magics of corrupted darkness and fouled divine, but no safer place lay in easy reach. The wound in my soul was purposeful placed there, Deneb granting me a way to hide the stones I located. Gemini being filled with the myriad evils of the Abyss, and the Dead was all the burden I could bear.

Exhaling, I took a moment to regain my breath in time for a mint haired girl to slam into my chest, scrabbling as Mercury landed in the water, forcing me to assume my own stance. Elbow up to block his first kick, I am tumbling ass over teakettles to try and bleed off the momentum, Phoelarh that hurt, before he is holding Emerald in a vice grip. "I will not ask again Cinder, where is Leo. Aramis had it, and you were the one sent after him by Salem" My bones felt heavy… Binding magics. Marcus must have ensorcelled his son's blows before the ambush began. Cinder was forming a blaze in her hand, she didn't seriously… I had to save Emerald. I focused my energies, forced my aura to comply, and caught Emerald in my arms as the fires reached all three of us. Mercury was consumed in them, one of the foibles of Necromancy was how much it was hated by the pure elements. This fire magic of Cinder's was no different. Emerald was shaking, the pyre was worst on her, my protection of the fire spirits shielded me from the brunt of this.

"May my prayers become a beacon, guide to gods to heal your blight." The healing magic flowed into Emerald, letting her breathe easier as her body knitted itself back together. Once she was safely out of the water, away from danger, I whirled on Cinder who was walking down the catwalk with no small expression of pleasure.

"I am sorry you had to see me dispose of useless tools. One turned against me and ruined the other one." My light infused fist into her jaw staggered her before I followed it with a grapple and headlock. "What madness has overtaken you Peter!?"

"How. DARE YOU. How dare you toy with my heart when you treat your charges so poorly! Love for an Arc means service. And you would treat your servants likes this?" I gestured to the still healing Emerald. "I am not some teen you can use and abuse Cinder. I am a Knight of Lodis. A shield of the Righteous." I hurled her into the spring, leaping to scoop Emerald into my arms, before I spoke words of Necromancy. The Stone replaced the need for the corpse fragments or other macabre components needed. "Pinions glistening black, rescue me from darker lands, flap and flight!" Both myself and Emerald were transformed into Rooks, and set to flight, Emerald confused and following the impulses to stay close to me, back towards Beacon.

After a few hours flight, Emerald and I landed in the courtyard to the rising sun, and the quick embrace of Glynda's Semblance over us both. I was barely transformed before both of us hit the bed, Ilia dropped onto my left arm, and Glynda dropped onto my right. "I am expecting a full report after you explain who this girl is." Emerald choosing this moment to whimper and curl into my chest seemed to soften Glynda's anger just so. "Are you sleeping with my brother?"

" _Love running deeper than hatred, your reward is due!"_ Only I heard the activation of Deneb's bewitching magic, striking Emerald as she was on top of me.

"... If I say yes, can I become a Huntress and hide from my psychotic boss while I figure out if I love her more than I hate that she hurt me?"

"... Only if you help me keep him from doing stupid things like wander off at night without a scroll or a note. Are you opposed to _sleeping_ with him as well?"

Ilia looked me in the eye, shrugged and rolled to keep me better pinned as two of the women in my life decided to discuss how best to keep me under lock and key. "Humans." She kissed me, as if that explained everything. Given she was fondling my stones, and had a look in her eye that promised that I would be getting out of bed sometime this coming evening… I sighed, collapsed into the bed, and felt Emerald shift, curl into me, and soon I was hearing her voice in my head.

" _Myself and Glynda have reached an agreement. You are no longer allowed out of bed unescorted by myself, Ilia, her, the Xiao Long girls, or your team. You may now whimper, because she is looking for round two, and I am curious what an Arc's stamina is like."_

 **Fuck. My. Life. And fuck you Deneb, you evil Witch.**


	6. Chapter 6

Shattering glass, and I was going for my great sword as Emerald was going for her sicklebladed machineguns, and Ruby was activating her scythe. The store proprietor didn't even bat an eye at Neopolitan dropping her illusion in front of him, nor at her holding both hands up, and then a sign.

 **Take the scroll**.

I caught it out of habit, despite Ruby's glare. "Kid, whatever you did, you riled Cinder up fierce. She is beside herself and she is asking me to try and kill you. I told her I lack the firepower to keep a good healer down before me and Neo would be carved or bludgeoned by that goddamn pigsticker of yours. When I explained that you tend to bludgeon first, and described what you did to that one ganger who decided to see if the effeminate healer was gay… My god, she blanched." Roman was half laughing. "But seriously, she is pissed, and she is looking for a way to get you killed. Watch your back. As of now, I am obliged to fire you for what went down. I've transferred another ten thousand Lien as per our severance agreement, and I need the location of the dead drop for the last set of your crystals."

I deflated slightly, I had liked working for Roman. He cared about Lien, Neo, and himself, reverse that order. I had freedom no normal job would give me. Flicking my eyes to the proprietor, I addressed him. "Spent dust crystals, all of them you have on hand. How much." Roman's picture cut out, as Neo vanished. I knew for a fact she was still nearby, it's just what Neopolitan does. After paying highway robbery, the man takes the Mistrali method of holding a grudge, I spent the next hour infusing magic into the crystals before I felt a hand feeling my groin up, and they vanished. Lodis damnit Neo. Looking over to Emerald and Ruby, who seemed expecting an answer. "I am not one to leave bargains unfinished." I had Ruby tackle me flat out, and yank my face into hers.

"You helped him again! Why shouldn't I arrest you right here and now." I stared into silver eyes with my own blank green ones. "The amount of people you must have indirectly hurt, the amount of property damage you could have prevented by… You are enabling Evil!"

"By leaving men to die of injuries? Yes, honest work would see them die old and in bed, but I can not make that choice for them!" I broke Ruby's hold, and saw Emerald shrink away, feeling her grip my arm. "I am a healer, Ruby. I whore my talents out for Lien because I will not accept charity, and do not expect to give it either. Lodis demands of his kin that they make their way through life. I have never stolen, and never condoned it, but I freely admit, I am damn good at keeping my mouth shut about it! I am not some knight in shining armour! Every man I heal is a man I stop from hating the system, or suffering. That anguish lost stops the Grimm from being agitated that much more."

Ruby's teeth were grit. I could see it in her face, she WANTED to argue, but she knew I believed my words. Her eyes could SEE it. And it was what I needed, that moment of hesitation, Emerald was letting go of me, we were far enough into Vale. I had my money. And frankly, Beacon wasn't for me. I wanted to be a Hunter, but if the stones were still scattered the world over, I needed to act, NOW. Every stone Raven Branwen got hold of, these people, these wonderful people, were more in danger. "Pinions glistening black, rescue me from darker lands, flap and flight!" And with that spoken, I dived into a roll, exploding into black feathers, flapping Rook wings to flee the store, and into greater Vale. Needed to wait a few days, before I returned to Junior. There was no real timelimit on the form… I found a murder of crows nearby, and landed among them, hopping over… Someone was spreading birdseed? Inquisitively, I pecked at it, and… It was a bit bland, like eating Congee, but for all that was the situation? I was not opposed to it. Oh, cute, camera clicks… Should, wait, oh shi...

"What's a Rook doing here?" I stopped, looking out one eye at the girl speaking. "Aren't you native to Mistral little guy?" Motherfucker. Too fast for me to escape, I found I was being held by a woman with brown hair, mocha eyes… And rather adorable and floppy rabbit ears. I gave a squawk of protest, but she was nimble, petting me behind the head, and fucking hell, it felt good. "Don't worry, it's okay… Coco will be amazed that I caught you. You must be someone's pet. I'll talk to the pet stores in the area." I was too relaxed, and she was warm. I found I had a leash of twine around my ankle before I knew what was going on, and she was tying me to her shoulder. Plenty of slack, but not enough for me to get away. "Ooh, you're a feisty one. I might have to clip your wings if you put up too much of a fuss." That certainly took the wind out of my sails. Okay, be a good bird and avoid losing feathers… I heard the rush of air, and the only thing that saved my neck was a reflex to jump. Velvet was diving out of the way as I reverted my form, landing in a skidding three point stance, and whirling to bring my greatsword up in a rising slash, burndust compressed sword coming for my neck again. The ringing filled the air, as well as the hiss of burning blades. The screech and sparks of steel, and dust jewel meeting fills the entirety of Vale. Civilians stand and gawk.

A flaw in her style, as I kick backwards, bringing my sword in the form needed, sword before me, blade held flat, hiding my face, and facing the foe. It is the first step in Void Kata. A fusion of the Lodissian sword arts, and the kenjutsu of Mistral, it is a fighting set meant to have no form. Step one, explode outwards in a wide sweeping slash, Raven leaps upwards, and brings her sword down, again, killing blow, my throat, her feet landing on my blade. Let go of the sword, and move to step two. Clap both hands upwards, and angle them fourty five degrees. "SHIRAHADOI!" Her sword is hot to the touch, but Void Kata sets me beyond such petty concerns as pain and fire. Her crimson eyes narrow. She knows what this is, and knows I have won this exchange as she lands, standing on my sword.

"... This is not the stones doing. Where did you hide the stone, boy." I glare into Crimson eyes behind her mask. Does she truly believe me daft?

"I thought we agreed when I killed your assassins that I am not a boy, Miss Branwen. I am a Knight of Lodis, heir to the traditions you spit upon with your tigers. Phidoch belongs to us, as does Valeria, and all Mistral!" I shove forwards, and downwards to my right, before I snap a kick into her side. I hear the hiss of her pained grunt before I leap up and backwards, and weave a glyph. "Come now, hand of dark earth-vault, clutch at their eyes and steal their light!" The spirits of the earth scream to the fore, and I hear Raven scream in satisfaction as she is blinded by the Kami inside her own helmet. Phoelarh created all the world, and he created the elemental spirits to serve his faithful! She leapt back, and swung wide, clearing space for herself. Velvet was collecting herself, and running to sheperd the civilians clear.

Floran's armband is clear as day to my eyes on her arm. "Bastard son of the house of Arc, BASTARD SON OF THE SUN!" She shattered her helm with a single crushing grip of her hand, freeing her eyes, and blinking it away. "I will shatter your bones and leave you little more than a broodstud for my servants." The rage in her face brings a smile to mine, as I correct my stance. Void Kata is well and good when you are making sacrificial movements, but it would not help me in a fight like that. I exhaled, and gathered light this time, my favoured element, my most beloved of kin. The shining noonday sun over us grew more intense, and her pale skin and crimson eyes forced her to stand back as I gathered the mana.

"Spirits wreathed in light divine, gallop as arrows 'cross the sky and pierce my foeman's flesh!" The sphere formed in hand, and I thrust it forward, the Sun… Phoelarh, my God's blessed light shining down. It exploded towards her as she sheathed her sword, and it was a black dust blade that sang out, slicing the spell in half, but it gave me the time I needed. Raven was faster then I was by many times over, but she always went for the killing blow. My neck was her target. "Avatar of Light, from Winking Stars… DESCEND TO ME!" I called on the Wisplight again, summoning a Will-of-the-Wisp into the world, which proceeded to rain explosions of light on her. She was forced to focus on deflecting them, not wishing to risk gaining a further weakness to my Light magic. "Twist time's whirlwind like the gales and lightning bolts race 'cross the sky!" The bonds of time grew light, and I began to move twenty percent faster, bridging the gap enough to cast a duo of spells. Though it darkened my soul to draw on these horrors of foulest Necromancy, I was a Knight of Lodis. I listened to the sound of screeching steel as she struck time and again at the Wisplight, shattering each sphere, but sparing herself any pain.

No foeman may be fought with anything less than all the tools available." _Love running deeper than hatred, your reward is due!_ " DAMN YOU DENEB! The curse of Tainted Love struck Raven, and I was forced to speed my chanting. Raven was not gentle with her lovers, and I had a fondness for wholeness of my bones, to say nothing that Raven was MY MORTAL FOE!

Abandoning plans to summon the Grimm, I sped to simply escape. "Pinions glistening black, rescue me from darker lands, flap and flight!" I was flying away leaving Rook feathers behind. I abandoned my sword under Raven's feet, and flew to spare my own neck. Raven had spooked the crows, and this left me amidst a flight, and even then, I barely dodged a thrown stone from clipping my tailfeathers. A crow beside me was not so lucky, exploding into so many giblets and pinions. I matched the murder around me in speed and destination, finally landing in a tree across Vale. Sidling beside a particularly large and… Whiskey smelling crow, I settled in for a nap. Neat red trim on the top feathers, and a bit of white to their underplumage. Myself and my alcohol reeking companion woke up in a cage. In Beacon.

("So, my names Qrow. How badly did YOU fuck up to get caged.") Flapping, cawing, and squawking, and I realized Qrow was female. What the hell. ("I must admit, I like your tailfeathers. So, want to make an egg or two? I know how to do things you wouldn't believe, Rookie.")

("... You are aware I'm a human in Rookform, right?")

("Holy shit, that's even better. I can fuck you in both forms! Are you cute?")

("... I'm stuck in a cage with Raven's drunk sister. How can this get any worse.") I looked over to note Coco and Velvet were changing. Ahh, an aching erection. That would be how. It was then that Qrow threw a wing over me, and then vomited into the newspaper below us. Before nuzzling me.

…

"Velvet, I think one of your pets is trying to rape the other. Or murder it."


End file.
